Brothers
by dglsprincess105
Summary: Three brothers have grown vastly apart, due to circumtances. Can an ancient enemy reunite them? Only Time will tell.
1. Prologue: Reunited

Hey Everyone! Merry Christmas to all!! This is my second story and it is finally out! Hope you enjoy!

OoOo: Switching scenes

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney's Hercules or any of it's characters. But any characters made by me are mine, so no touchy!

Oh, and I would also like to thank Melathe for verifying things with me. You rock, girl!

Prologue: Reunited!

It was cold and wet, but then, there hasn't been a day when it wasn't. Today though, it was unbearable, it was now destroying what little warmth a young prisoner had in his body. Something strange was going on, that was why the temperature had changed. Something was happening outside the walls. Was there a battle? Was something sinister coming?

"Brother, what's going on? I'm scared."

The dark figure talking was waist-deep in what looked like a deep murky swamp. There was no light in the room so it was difficult to see what the young boy looked like. He waddled up to a small corner where a lithe form was lying down.

"I don't know, squirt. Whatever it is, here it comes." The lithe form replied.

They both looked up to see a thick liquid pour from a hole above them and hit the lake. That hole was their only means of escape, but it was too high for them to reach and even then it pushes down to prevent them from escaping. At first, the liquid didn't do much, and then they noticed the chain reaction it caused. It started with little fizzes, and then the place started foaming. Soon, the water rising rapidly to the ceiling.

Bellowing in surprise, they found themselves floating up to the exit. They both held their breaths as they were sucked right through it. It started slowly but after a painful squeeze, they were suddenly surrounded by a blinding light. As they fell, they were reintroduced to darkness.

OooOo

A young boy of the age seventeen, stared at his adversary who was known as his father. One glance at the boy could tell you that he was a god not by his bright yellow aura, but by his devilishly good looks. Long curly brown hair was draped past his back. A light bronze tan covered his body, giving him an exotic look. He wore a purple kitan that didn't hide much of his muscular-built body. His angular yet chiselled had light-blue eyes that showed courage and power. They were obviously his best features, or it could be the triumphant smirk on his face.

He stood defiantly in front of his father, who was vomiting out the concoction drink in his body. This so called "parent" was clearly not the one who the young man took his handsome characteristics from. He stood at twelve feet and eleven inches with a heavy-weight built. His skin was grey-blue and his eyes were yellow. Long black hair fell to his shoulders and in the middle was a white lightning streak. He wore a black tunic and kitan that was pinned with the medal of revolution. His long face was smooth except with the black goatee. This titan normally held a calm, cool expression, but today; he had one of pain and repulsion.

Apparently, he didn't like his drink.

Our divine hero watched as his father was trying to get the poison out of his body. The paternal figure pulled his head back and something amazing (and disgusting) happened.

The behemoth pulled his head back and made a gagging sound. It started slow but soon, he was vomiting something large out. First was a rock the size and shape of a baby. Then an even larger form was coming out of his mouth. It was a young lithe boy of the age of fourteen. The final one was a smaller weaker-looking boy of the age of ten, whom we identify as Squirt.

This was all the young man needed.

With a burst of speed that one wouldn't expect from a boy so bulky, he raced straight at the figures and scooped them up over his shoulders. He zoomed out of the dark palace, but not before knocking his father out with a lightning bolt.

He ran all night until Helios started to rise from the sky. He stopped when he was positive that he was away from the giant deity's claws. He found himself in woods and knowing his grandmother was protecting him, he placed the young boys down and began examining them for injuries. He first looked at the older one. You didn't have to be a genius to know that this was a god as well. However, this particular god did not look human.

In fact, he could be mistaken for a fish.

The unconscious god was covered in green scales and had a light-green aura surrounding his body. He didn't have any hair on his head but the large fin on his head gave him the look of a "Mohawk". His hands were webbed hands and had flippers for feet. His lush lips were parted enough for god to see that the other god had white shark-like teeth. The fish god stirred his head slightly and opened his eyes, revealing a pair of fierce blue eyes. They dilated slightly as he looked at his rescuer. He jumped to his feet and lifted his fists.

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened to pops?" he demanded.

"Whoa there! Calm down, I'm your friend. I rescued you and your brother from him. We're in the forest of the Nymphs now." He answered, raising his hands in assurance.

"My brother?....... (gasp) Squirt!" The water god shrieked. They both ran to the youngest. This one was even stranger to look at then the other. His skin was pale grey blue like their father but unlike him, he didn't seem to be producing an aura. He did have a similar long face but he didn't have a goatee and he was completely bald. His full lips were parted enough to see that he too had sharp fangs like his brother.

The fact that he wasn't producing an aura was what was scaring the two, was their brother dead?

"Squirt? Squirt?!! Come on, baby brother, don't die on me. Please, I need you. Please wake up!" The water being begged as he caressed the supposingly dead god's face.

The down god twitched on his face as the hands came in contact. Without warning, he burst into flames.

Both gods jumped backwards and looked at the youngest one in awe as he stood up in front of them like a phoenix rising.

This time he produced a bright red aura surrounding his body and his skin went from blue to red. His baldness disappeared and was replaced by long dark orange fiery wavy mane. His eyes, which had been closed before, were yellow and filled with endless knowledge. He moved gracefully around for a few minutes while his eyes adjusted to the light. When they did, they focused on the brown-haired and fish gods. The fish god he recognized as his older brother, but the new god got his guard up. He then relaxed. Somehow, he felt comfortable and safe in his presence. He walked up to the new god.

"Who in Rhea are you?" he interrogated as he poked him on the chest.

"That's what I asked him," said the aqua-god as he glanced at the older one. "Who are you and what happened?"

"My name is Zeus, the lightning god. I'm your brother." The older god answered with a sheepish smile.

Both gods gaped at him before speaking again.

"You can't be our brother! If you are, how come you didn't get eaten?" The sea-green god asked.

"Yeah and we would have heard of you from the outside world, even pop's stomach walls have ears." The red god pointed out.

Zeus answered, "When mom was pregnant; she stole me away from pops to Crete and had me in a cave, where the nymphs took care of me and nursed me with the fairy goat Amaltheia. I was raised to know how to fight as well as strategize my plans to attack the titans. Mom told me what happened to you guys and she also mentioned a prophecy that father would be usurped by one of us. I guess that would be me, huh?" he finished with a cheesy grin.

Both gods stared at him with wide eyes. They could not believe it! It was too incredible!

Zeus broke the silence. "Okay, you know who I am now; I would like to know the names of my younger brothers."

They snapped out of it and immediately introduced themselves. The fish god went first.

"I'm Poseidon, the water god; this little guy behind me is Squirt."

"I AM NOT!" whined the hot-tempered red god, whose aura increased intensity as he grew angry. He turned to Zeus.

"The name's Hades, fire god. Hi! How y'a doing?" He said with a cocky half-smile as he offered his hand to shake.

Zeus smiled warmly at his younger brother, already liking his in-your-face attitude. He shook his hand.

"Boy! Are you hot stuff!" Zeus commented.

Hades smirked. "Too hot for you to handle?"

This time, Zeus smirked back. "Oh, I think I can handle it."

Poseidon, seeing the competition in their eyes, decided to put a stop to it before it attracted the titans.

"So Zeus, any ideas on how to stop pops?" he asked.

Zeus looked at him and grinned broadly.

"I thought you'd never ask! Mom's going to meet us in Crete and she's got presents for us from the Cyclops!"

"WE GET TO SEE MOMMY!" Both gods shouted in joy as they hopped up and down.

Zeus nodded enthusiastically. "Come on! Last one there is a rotten egg." With that said, Zeus went in an all-out sprint north, making his younger brothers eat the dust. Not one to be outdone, Poseidon ran after him, catching up with him.

"Wait for me!" An excited Hades cried after them as he ran right behind them.

The young gods headed straight to their destination, not knowing what the future may hold for them but not worried about it as long as they had each other.

Hope you liked this chapter! And for those of you confused as to why I introduced Hades in this appearance, that will be explained in later chapters. And I'd also like to point out that since this is before the movie and they were kids at the time, no one was OOC. Again, I would like to thank Melanthe for her help. You will see what I mean soon.


	2. Chapter 1: To receive judgement

I would like to thank Stargazer for being my first reviewer.

This takes place after the movie.

Chapter one: To receive judgement

Zeus was furious! He could not remember the last time he had been this angry. How could Hades do this? Release the titans, their ancient enemies, and try to usurp his throne? What was he thinking?

"I swear, the minute he gets out of that well……….." he growled through clenched teeth.

It had been three days since Hercules had saved Olympus and dunked Hades in the well of souls. Regardless of the fact that Olympus was saved and the titans were now touring the deep space or knowing that his mortal son was happily married to a wonderful mortal girl, Hades' betrayal had placed him in the blackest of moods.

Hera sighed deeply as she watched her husband. She was a bit annoyed with what her brother in law tried to do, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry at him. Especially after what he aid to her when he conquered Olympus for ten minutes.

Giving her swollen belly another rub, she walked up behind Zeus and massaged his shoulders.

"Now, now Zeus; lets not overreact. After all, do you remember when Poseidon, Apollo and I tried to usurp you?"

"That's different! All you did was tie me up. Hades released our oldest enemies and did a full-scale attack on Olympus," he growled. "I can't believe he would be that foolhardy. What if they had turned on him? Huh? They would have eaten him up, that's what? And how could he do this to me? I've never been so betrayed in my life."

"He probably feels the same way." Hera muttered sullenly. Zeus happened to have heard her.

"What do you meant by that?" Zeus asked, alarmed.

Hera looked at him, sadly. "Zeus, did you ever think that Hades acted in what he believed was the only way to get his revenge?"

"Revenge! Ha! I'll have you know that if he can't handle being teased by the other gods, then he is more pathetic then I thought."

"I don't think it's the lack of respect from the gods that is bothering him. Hades is too big to allow words to bother him. What I mean is…………" she found that she couldn't finish the sentence.

Zeus stared at her. He had never seen Hera look so guilty. Did she do something? And what does Hades have to do with it? Also, why was Hera defending him?

He was just about to ask when Hermes flew towards them with his usual air of cheeriness.

"Big Z, looking good as usual. And Hera, even pregnant you look dazzling, babe." Hermes grinned. He pulled out a scroll and unfolded it. He proceeded to read.

"Okay, from what my contacts had stated so far, the Underworld is a bit out of control. Dead soldiers are causing riots, demons are trying to take Hades' throne, several souls have attempted to escape and Cerberus is still missing. Oh, and Pain and Panic are throwing a party and I really should go back to it."

Zeus slapped his face and rubbed the side of his face. Of all the gods to try to take his throne, it had to be the one with one of the three most important jobs in the cosmos.

"Yes, yes! But has Hades come out yet?"

Hermes placed his fox-face on. "One of my sources tells me that a bald grey-blue god was sited climbing out of a large hole filled with very unhappy souls. The souls let him go. Apparently, they got tired of the sound of his voice."

"Who wouldn't?" a miffed Athena growled as he passed them by.

Zeus grinned evilly. He immediately disappeared to the Underworld.

When he was through with Hades, he was going to wish he wasn't immortal.

In the Underworld………..

Hades lay on his side as he tried to catch his breath. He couldn't believe how long he had been trapped. Every time he tried, the souls would pull him down and do more bodily harm to him. The only reason they had let him go this time was because he 'talked too much'.

Frankly; he didn't know whether to be grateful or insulted.

Standing up, he closed his eyes and focused. A red aura slowly spread all over his body, drying of the ectoplasm on him. As soon as that happened, his hair ignited and his body turned dark red. He then calmed down, reverting to his blue-greyish complexion. He reached up to smooth his blue hair back.

"Oh yeah, we are back in business."

Smirking, he pulled out a scroll, a feathered pen and a pair of thick black bifocals. Putting them on, he wrote his memos.

Memo one: Make sure that nothing lasting damage in the Underworld. (Paperwork must be piling.)

Memo two: Find Jerkules and make him a permanent customer in Hotel a la dead. (That was a lucky punch.)

Memo three: Find nut-Meg and do the same. (She's going to love Styx.)

Memo four: Find a very, very, very, very good excuse to Zeus as to why he shouldn't smite him. (Yeeeeesh! I'll be lucky he doesn't banish me.)

Memo five: Avoid Persephone.

He frowned at the last step. If memory served him well, spring will soon be over. Persephone will be coming in the Underworld in a few days.

Normally, Hades would be jumping for joy whenever Persephone would come to the Underworld but lately, he would avoid her like a plague, wanting nothing to do with her.

His musings were broken when his nose picked up smoke. Not just any smoke, but those of his best cigars!

It finally dawned to him that he left Pain and Panic alone, unsupervised.

He wrote one more thing on his list.

Memo six: Torture, hurt, destroy, pound, eviscerate, kill and of course, wreck bodily harm on two certain #? imps.

With that written, Hades stumped into his throne room. Just as he had expected from being gone for three days, the place was a wreck. Hell-demons and lost souls were swarming the throne room, loud music was being played and he noticed that Charon and Thanatos were dancing with zombified women. He searched the area with his eyes until he spotted Pain and Panic.

They were sitting on HIS throne, smoking HIS cigars and drinking HIS limited supply of ambrosia. He slowly snuck behind them, making sure he was behind the shadows. He gave a light cough to get their attention. Pain and Panic turned around and felt their hearts stop as a pair of very familiar yellow eyes was focused on them.

"Hey, H-H-H-H-Hades, w-we were just thinking about you." Panic stuttered as he pushed back his heart, which was punching out of his chest.

"Uh, yeah, and like when were you coming out of that well?" Pain added with a weak smile.

"You mean, 'If I was coming out'." Hades corrected.

Their eyes, if possible, widened further. "You heard us?" (1)

"NO D'UHH!" He screamed as he exploded, literally.

Seconds later, the throne room was emptied out as everyone attempted to escape Hades' fiery wrath. Charon and Thanatos decided that break-time was over and went back to work. Pain and Panic, who had been in front, were reduced to ashes. When they rearranged themselves, he grabbed them by their throats.

"While I was given a new definition of Hell by my own customers, you took advantage of my absence by throwing a party! You could have, at least, sent me an invitation. And why in the name of Zeus did you invite the souls? THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MISERABLE!" He fumed.

"We didn't. They just showed up." They wheezed.

"Oh, don't give me that! Cerberus wouldn't let anyone in or out." Hades as he gave them a squeeze.

"Cerberus is gone. He ran away yesterday." Pain gasped.

Hades dropped them in shock. Cerberus? Gone? This was bad! Not only did he love that mutt (regardless, that he was no smarter then the imps), but Cerberus was the guard dog of the Underworld. Without him, he'd lose his customers.

"Oh, that's just peachy! I expected things to get a little behind schedule but this! Can't I leave you guys in charge for even a second without this crap? AND WILL YOU STOP TREMBLING!" he raged.

Pain and Panic didn't stop trembling. They were hugging each other tightly and were as white as chalk, never mind the fact that their eyes were the size of dinner plates. Hades was just about to roast them again when he noticed that they were not looking at him.

"There's something really bad behind me, isn't here?" he asked, his face paled when they both nodded numbly. Hades slowly turned around and was face-to-face with Zeus. Thunderclouds were forming above hi head and lightning was escaping his eyes and his face held a grim smile. In his hands, he was caressing a deadly thunderbolt.

"Hey, baby brother! Beautiful day, isn't it?" Zeus grinned evilly.

"Wouldn't know. I live down south." Hades threw back. His eyes started to search for possible exits while his body tensed up for that thunderbolt.

Zeus tilted his head. "Oh really? Well, then, you and I should go topside. You could use the fresh air after being trapped in that well for so long." He offered as he advanced menacingly toward Hades.

Hades stumbled backwards to avoid his irate brother. "Sorry bro, but paperwork is piling and there seems to be some chaos around that needs to be taken care of. And even if I was on schedule, I've got a full-time gig to handle, so can't. Love to, but can't." He sprinted towards the exit only to find it blocked by Zeus, who grabbed his arm with one hand and aimed his thunderbolt at his throat with the other.

"I insist," Zeus growled. "Or do you want me to aim a little lower?" He lowered his aim just below the belt.

"I could use a break." Hades squeaked.

Zeus grinned. "Smart choice. Now put these on." He handed Hades some immortal-binding chains.

"What are these for?" He asked, still not liking this day.

"Oh, I can't have you escaping while you're on trial."

"Trial! For what!"

"Gee, where do I even begin?" Zeus rolled his eyes as he and Hades disappeared.

This was just not Hades' day.

You gotta feel bad for Hades here. You also have to wonder why Hera is feeling guilty. Did she do something to Hades that may have gotten him to release the titans and where is Cerberus? Most importantly, what happened between Hades and Persephone?

(1) At the end of the movie, when Hades fell in the well of souls, this conversation took place

_Panic: He' going to be very angry when he comes out._

_Pain: You mean, 'if' he comes out._

_Panic: If?... If is good._


	3. Chapter 2: Banishment

Sorry it took so long to update, been working on another story. Thank you Starship Gazer, Emily Dark Lady Devinity and Johnny Boy Blue for reviewing.

Chapter two: Banishment

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney's Hercules but I do own Persephone or any other gods I have made up.

On Mt. Olympus, the deities fervently assembled to see the anticipated trial. All wanted to make sure that Hades got his just desserts.

Well, all except three people.

Hera, overwhelmed with shame and guilt, unconsciously rubbed her stomach. She had a bad feeling about the trial and hoped it would blow over. And not in the literal sense.

Sitting next to her was Poseiden, the middle child and referee of the family. He was smarter then his older brother and stronger then his younger brother. Normally, he had a dignified but amused face, but there was nothing but worry on his face. He only wished that when this was over, his family would remained intact.

The last one was Persephone, who held a face with both worry and guilt. She had light brown hair and pearl white skin that gave off a hot-white aura. Her green eyes, normally filled with life and happiness, were bloodshot. She wished none of this had happened. She knew she was just as much at fault as Hera and Zeus were. Her best friend, Hermes; and her mother, Demeter, were trying to cheer her up, telling her that everything will be okay. But she knew nothing would ever be the same.

The rest of the immortals were hoping and praying that Hades would be incarcerated in Tarturus. As far as they were concerned, they never liked the dark morbidness of Hades or the Underworld. Regardless of the fact that he was Zeus' baby brother, they never respected him. Now that Hades showed his true colors, they had no reasons to hide their contempt for him.

The golden gates opened and all eyes were on the two people that walked in. Well, one of them was walking, the other was being dragged in chains. Zeus' face was serious and almost grave while Hades was looking quite indignant about how he was being treated and decided to voice it out vociferously.

"You can't treat me like this! Ow! Hey come on, bro, you've been usurped before! Ow! Ow! Hey, at least give me the right to have a lawyer! Ow! WILL YOU GO EASY ON THE CHAINS!" Hades whined.

Zeus felt his right eye twitch. There was only so much a god could take, and oh boy, can Hades be annoying (like all siblings can be.) He pulled the chains even harder until he reached his daughter, Athena.

"Here's your lawyer! Athena, you will defend Hades." Zeus felt that regardless on how he felt about his brother at the moment, he deserved a fair trial. He felt his daughter would defend him well.

"Ahh, Athena! Goddess of war and know-it-allness, constant pain in the ass of Ares, and love child between Zeus and...himself. (1) How's it been, how's Athens?" Hades smirked.

No matter what, Hades always retained his sense of humor.

Athena glared at Hades after giving her father a pleading look. But Zeus would have none of it.

"Athena, I'm asking you to do this because I trust you to do your best. Now make me proud."

She sighed seeing that there was no use arguing. Dragging Hades to the stand she sat in front of him. Zeus walked up to the pandomon and pulled out a miniture wooden hammer.

"All right! The court vs. Hades is now in session. We are here for the trial of the god of the Underworld who is accused of working with the Titans and attempted usurpation of my throne. If he is found guilty, he will be forever banished to Tarturus."

Hades' eyes widened. Taturus! No way was Zeus serious! Tarturus was filled with monsters, furies, and evil souls. Of course, those, Hades could easily handle. But there was the slight detail that Chronus was there, waiting for a way to exact revenge. Hades felt his bottom lip wobble in fear.

"Hades, how do you plead?" Zeus demanded as he glared at him.

Hades was about to scream 'not guilty' but Athena beat him to the punch.

"Oh great Zeus, the defendant pleads insanity." Athena smirked.

Once again, Hades didn't know whether to be grateful or insulted.

Zeus raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? On what grounds?"

'Yeah, on what grounds?' Hades thought as he glared at Athena.

"I don't believe Hades was in his right state of mind to do this. Hades would never consider releasing the Titans with the knowledge that they would turn on him. Clearly, this is a sign of duress. He just wasn't thinking at the time"

Hades smirked. Okay, he could live with that.

"I'm afraid," Ares spoke out as prosecuter. "that the evidence will speak more against that statement then I do." He signalled Hermes to bring Exhibit A, which was a large chessboard.

"Hey! Those are my stuff!" Hades shouted as he stood up. Zeus, needing an excuse, threw a lightning bolt at Hades. knocking him down.

"Hades, you are out of order." Zeus stated, only to have his left ear pulled by Hera.

"Zeus, use your gavel! That's what its there for!" She hissed.

"As you can see, this was a strategic plan for Hades to use the Titans to stop us. It was not just planned over night. The Underworld god had been planning this for a very long time." Ares finished with a smirk.

'What did he do, steal Athena's owl again? Since when was Ares so smart?' Hades thought, incredulously.

"Now, for my witnesses." Ares gestured as a Chimera, a Minotaur, and a Gorgon came to stand. Hades recognized them as the monsters he sent to destroy Hercules.

'I am so screwed.' Hades moaned inwardly.

"Now, " Ares questioned. "You were each hired to kill my baby brother, Hercules. Correct?"

There were grunts and growls escaping their throats. Hermes; the god of communication, translated for everyone.

"They said yes, and they were never paid for it, either." He translated.

'If they sell me out, they will be paying for it.' Hades thought, darkly.

"Why did you do it? Ares growled out.

They roared, and Hermes translated: "They were promised a portion of Earth to rule over."

"Who hired you?" Ares demanded to know.

Instead of speaking; they pointed thier fingers at Hades, who was picking the lock on his chains with a hairpin. Seeing that all eyes were on him, he laughed nervously and sat back down. Athena, rolling her eyes at him, stood up to defend him.

"Exhibit A seems to be nothing more then a simple chess game for children. Your witnesses are monsters, can we really trust them? They are not our most closest friends; this could be a way of placing friction between us."

Zeus, the audience, and the jury groaned. Maybe having Athena as Hades' lawyer was a bad idea. She seemed to be doing too good a job.

"Okay, Little Miss Smarty-pants; let's see you find an excuse on this next piece of evidence." Ares growled. He signaled his two sons to bring forth the next evidence. "Exhibit B!"

This time, it was a stack of papyruses that were contracts to his past deals.

"Hey! Be careful with those! It's as fragile as Zeus' grip on reality!" Hades shouted.

WHAMO!

"Hades, you are being out of order again." This time, Zeus did use his gaval. Hera glared at him.

"What? You said use the gaval."

"I meant on the pondium. Not on his head!"

'I wonder if I could start a new case on assault and battery?' Hades mused as he rubbed his sore head.

"My client is in need of psychological help! Overwork and tension could be the reason why he felt the need to lash out on his family and friends."

'I have no family and friends.' Hades thought, grimly.

"ARE YOU SYMPATHIZING WITH THE ENEMY? WHY ARE YOU HELPING HIM?" yelled a marooned-faced Ares.

Athena was turning purple. "I was given orders by all mighty Zeus A.K.A. Daddy to defend him to the best of my abilities, and that is just what I am doing!" She growled.

"WELL YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO SUCH A GOOD JOB ABOUT IT!"

"JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE DOING SUCH A LOUSY JOB OF ACCUSING HIM---"

"WHO'S DOING A LOUSY JOB, FAT HEAD?"

"You have got to be joking?" Zeus muttered as he watched, incredulously. This was a serious trial and they were treating it like their usual sibiling rivalry.

"EGG HEAD!"

"BRUTE!"

"KNOW-IT-ALL!"

"SORE LOSER!"

"Gee, now how did I know it would end this way?" Hades commented as he rolled his eyes. Of course having Ares and Athena against one another was a stupid idea, it would be like putting heavy oil and fire in the same room. The result would be begging for a disaster.

And speaking of disasters, Zeus looked like he was going to blow.

"WILL YOU TWO PLEASE GET ON WITH THE CASE!" Zeus roared as he glared at his children, lightning appearing all over the courtroom.

"Sorry, father." Both gods whimpered as they literally made themselves smaller.

Evidence after evidence, argument after argument, Ares was trying to show that Hades was guilty. Unfortunately, Athena was a thousand times smarter then Ares and always found a way around each of Ares' statement. Finally, Zeus made a final statement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, We are at the end of the trial and the jury," He nodded his head at several minor gods and goddesses at the jury stand, "has reached a verdict."

"The jury finds Hades guilty for releasing the Titans, endangering the lives of mortals as well as immortals, and attempted usurpation of the throne of Olympus."

Hades moaned but kept himself quiet. It wouldn't do any good to complain.

"The sentence is eternal banishment to Tarturus."

Hades' eyes widened as his worst fear was realised. He was going to Tarturus: Where the remaining Titans and, even worse, where his father was residing. Hades was not ashamed to admit that he was petrified of his father. To this day, he still suffered nightmares from him. His entire body started to shiver with fear as he began to imagine what the god of time would do to him once he got his hands on him.

Luckily, Lady Fate decided to give Hades a well-deserved miracle.

"However, due to the lack of evidence as well as the fact that we need him to control the Underworld, I must change the sentence to a simple banishment. Hades, you are hereby banished from Mt. Olympus until it is deemed otherwise. Case dismissd." Zeus finished. No matter how betrayed he felt, he did not want to put Hades back in his father's clutches.

Hades didn't know whether to be grateful or hateful. (The latter being easier to spread, over the former.) He was happy that he wasn't going to Tarturus; however, Olympus was his childhood home. To never come up again was worst then working full-time in the Underworld.

He sighed and decided to leave. As he passed by, he gave a murderous glare at Hera and an angry glare at Poseiden. But for Persephone, he didn't even spare her a glance. That alone was enough to make her burst into tears.

Zeus glared at him when he noticed Persephone's tears. His brother could be so cruel sometimes; it was amazing that they were related.

"Hades! I did not ask you to leave!"

"Oh, now I have to ask permission to leave a place I'm banished from?" Hades shot back without even looking at him, as he walked way.

Furious, Zeus jumped off the podium and chased after Hades. Hera tried to stop him, but Poseiden grabbed her shoulders and shook his head.

"Let them go. They really need to talk to each other privately, anyway."

Hera sighed. She knew this was going to end violently.

End of chapter three

This doesn't seem good! Will Hades and Zeus ever stop being mad at each other? What are Poseiden, Hera and Persephone hiding? Is it the key to why Hades is the way he is? Find out in the next dramatic chapter of Brothers.

There is definitely a conspiracy going on here. On the next chapter, Zeus confronts Hades but soon regrets it when Hades explodes and reveals something that completely changes Zeus' perspective. What do they know that Zeus doesn't? What! Another son of Zeus? And what does he have to do with Hades? More importantly, what happened to the kid?

(1) In another version of Greek Mythology, Athena was born without a mother but sprang out in full-armor from Zeus' head.


	4. Chapter 3: Explosion on Mount Olympus

Sorry it took so long, so here it is! Hope you enjoy it. It's definitely more exciting and mysterious.

I do not own Disney's Hercules or Greek mythology. But any character that may or may not be mentioned is mine.

Chapter three: Explosion on Mount Olympus

Hades marched past the golden gates as he tried to calm his nerves. Maybe a nice dip in the river Lethe will sooth his nerves and make him forget this terrible day.

"HADES!" Zeus shouted as he ran after his 'dark' brother. He was clearly in a rampaging mood. But Hades was not only unimpressed, he was ignoring it.

'_Keep walking, Hades. Ignore him, Hades.'_ He started chanting in his head.

"Hades, Stop!"

'_Don't look at him, don't acknowledge him, just walk slowly to the exit and go home'_ Hades continued thinking.

"DAMN YOU, HADES! I ORDER YOU TO STOP!!!"

'_Okay, that was his outdoor voice, better acknowledge him now.'_ He thought somewhat nervously. It didn't pay to have an angry god on you, especially the king of gods.

"What's up?" Hades grinned mockingly as he turned around. He couldn't help but broaden his grin further when he saw his brother's purple face.

'And they say I'm scary when I'm angry.' He thought smugly.

Zeus took in deep breaths before snarling at his younger sibling. "How dare you take this lightly? Aren't you the least bit sorry for all you have done?"

"Hmmmm, let me think…….. No. Can't say that I am." He sniggered.

CRACK!!!

Hades suddenly found himself on the floor while his right hand was on the angry-red hand mark on the side of his face. Of all the things that Zeus had ever done, this was the first time he ever struck him in this fashion.

Zeus couldn't help but feel some savage pleasure in doing that. As far as he was concerned, Hades deserved so much more then that.

"You pathetic excuse of a god! Not only did you betray all the gods in Olympus, but you betrayed me, your blood! Your brother!!!"

"BETRAYED?!!!" Hades screamed, erupting in an explosion of fire. "DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT BETRAYAL, CONSIDERING WHAT YOU AND YOUR WIFE DID!" He seethed as he got up and glared hatefully at his brother.

If looks could kill, not even Zeus' immortality would have saved him.

"What in Gaia are you talking about, how did I betray you?" Zeus didn't know what Hades was up to, but if he thought that he could pin the blame of his banishment on him, he had another thing coming.

"Save you lies! Persephone told me everything and your wife even confirmed it." Hades growled, keeping his hands on his sides so he wouldn't strike his brother. Despite having a certain taste for explosive violence like his brothers, Hades always prided himself in having a far more devious temperament then them. (1)

"Huh? Confirmed what?" Zeus would have asked what sort of game Hades was playing until he mentioned Hera and Persephone. Those two had been looking awfully guilty lately.

Hades was smoldering! Was Zeus actually going to continue to deny it? In a soft and dangerous whisper that he never used unless he was really ticked off, Hades answered:

"They confirmed to me what really happened twenty years ago. They told me what happened to…….him."

Even after all these years, Hades couldn't bring himself to say 'his' name, at least, not without choking up.

It took a second and a half for it to register to Zeus' head at what Hades was talking about. Then his eyes widened in revelation.

"What did I have to do with that terrible event? Or Hera and Persephone? It was an accident, pure and…….." He suddenly stopped talking when Hades roughly grabbed him and slammed him on one of the pillars of Olympus.

"IT WAS NO ACCIDENT!! HE WAS LEAD THERE BY YOUR WIFE!!! AND SEPH HELD ME RESPONSABLE FOR IT! MEANWHILE; THE OTHER GODS DECIDED I WAS TO BLAME FOR IT! THEY EVEN ASSUMED THAT I HAD PLANNED FOR THE WHOLE THING!!" Hades screamed. He let Zeus go and was now looking close to tears. "Why didn't they believe me? Why didn't they see that I loved him? He was my baby." He finished; his voice raw with pain.

Zeus blinked, feeling overwhelming pity for his brother. He had never seen Hades look so vulnerable before. Was Hera right? Did Hades really have a reason for her irrational behaviour? Before he could ask, he was interrupted by a scornful voice.

"He was never yours to begin with, Hades. We all knew the truth. Just admit it: You let him get killed because he was a constant reminder of my daughter's infidelity, not that any of us blame her for seeking out other men." Demeter sneered.

Zeus stared at the earth goddess. He never would have believed those cruel words had come from the normally kind-hearted earth goddess, and yet his own two ears had heard them. Also, where did she get off saying them to Hades? Zeus was beginning to think that maybe some of the divinities did deserve to be captured by the titans.

Hades looked at her with furious eyes as he whirled around to see that many of the gods and goddesses had decided to follow him and Zeus. But when he replayed the words she had said, his eyes widened in shock.

"Back up! You knew, you all knew about him and didn't tell me?!! WHY?!!" Up until now, Hades didn't think that he'd ever felt so betrayed from his so-called family. Meanwhile, Zeus was watching and listening to everything, becoming more and more lost.

Apollo was the one that answered this time. "You would have found out about his origins sooner or later. And what then? Would you have pretended not to care about the revelation? Would you have still loved him, then? I doubt it, Hades. Your ruthlessness and pride has proven to us in the past that you would have killed him yourself."

"**WHAT!!!" **Hades literally blew his top, causing the fire from his hair to spread all over his body. How dare they! How dare they accuse him of ever thinking of killing the one thing that brought light to his otherwise dark world!

Zeus decided now was the time to intervene. "That's enough! What is going on here, what are you all not telling me?" He didn't know what was going on, but he would get some answers.

Hades shot Zeus a sharp glance. Was Zeus that good an actor or did he really not know what this was about?

The divinities didn't know what to say. Apparently; they, like Hades, assumed that the king of the gods knew what they were talking about. Except for Hera, who felt the inevitable arrival of explosive violence that the sons of Chronus were famous for was soon to come, and Poseidon; who felt now the time for him to intervene.

"Hades, Zeus had no idea what we're talking about. He doesn't know what really happened."

Zeus glared at the second born. "Poseidon, you too? What are you all hiding from me?" Zeus was really starting to loose his patience. Whatever they were hiding, it was clearly the reason why Hades went off the deep end.

"He is completely ignorant about it," Poseidon stated, ignoring Zeus. "He didn't even know that he had another son, or that Hera had planned to kill him."

'Another what?!!' Zeus thought as his brain nearly froze. Hades on the other hand, looked horrified and heartbroken. When he spoke, it was just above a whisper.

"You knew about that, too. You, out of all the gods, I trusted you more and you didn't tell me……." He stopped talking as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. A bright red aura appeared on his skin, yet his color remained grey-blue. Zeus and Poseidon exchanged fearful glances. They knew what this meant.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Poseidon shouted as he pushed Hera and Persephone down with him. Most of the deities didn't understand what was going on until Hades exploded.

The mortals watched from their homes as it rained fireballs from the sky. The shockwave from the explosion knocked everyone down, and avalanche was also started from Hades, causing rocks and snow to fall to the ground. If any of the astrologers had looked up, they would have thought that Apollo's sun went nova. The gods were not safe from this attack either. They had all taken the brutal part of the explosion, except for Zeus and Poseidon, who had long ago become immune to their brother's element and Persephone; who being the queen of the underworld, was immune from any harm Hades dishes out. Most of Olympus remained a smoldering mess and even the parts that were made of clouds had a hard time recovering.

Zeus sighed as he got up. This was what happened whenever Hades held things in for too long. The strain of pushing all his pain and feelings had taken its toll on him when he received this new information. Zeus approached his now out-cold brother and tried shaking him awake by the shoulders. Hades blinked and dizzyingly sat up. For a while, he tried to get out of his dazed state and think clearly. When he did, he growled, stood up, and made a large fireball in his raised hand. Zeus looked away and braced himself for the impact. It wasn't like Hades could actually hurt him, but if it made Hades feel better to strike him, then so be it.

He didn't feel the impact.

Zeus cautiously looked at his brother to see if he was going to attack him or not. Instead, Hades had his hands to his side and he looked like he was restraining himself from strangling his older brother. His expression was wrought with disgust and hurt. His eyes were expressionless. Finally, he calmed down and his hands relaxed. He glared at his so-called family, and then he glared at Zeus.

"You know what? Forget this, I don't even care anymore! I'm glad that I'm banished from Olympus. As far as I'm concerned, I never want to see any of you back-stabbing, butt-kissing stuck-up traitors again." With that, Hades stormed past Zeus and headed back to earth.

It took a few minutes for the words to sink in, then Zeus' eyes widened with grief and guilt. Reality finally showed him what he had failed to see all along: His baby brother hated him; he didn't want to see him anymore. This was not how it was supposed to be!

"Hades, wait! Come back!" Zeus shouted as he chased after his brother, and this time not to tell him off.

The gods and goddesses looked at one another with dread, apprehension, and a touch of guilt.

When Zeus did get the whole story out of what really happened, he was going to do some serious smiting.

OoooOoooO

Oh my, this is getting exciting! Who was Hades talking about that meant so much to him? Will the gods ever get theirs? What will happen now with Hades vowing to never return from Olympus? Will he and Zeus ever reconcile? Find out on the next exciting chapter of 'Brothers'.

I'm glad I got my butt back to working on this fic, seeing as things are really about to get exciting. Any hoo, on the next chapter, we get to see another confrontation with Zeus, this time it's a bit heartbreaking. We see Pain and Panic again and we get a hint of who the god that they are all talking about. What!! Hera killed a God! HUH!! HADES HAS A SON?!! Who is he? And why have we never seen him? Oh wow, the Fates make a cameo in this chapter. Stay tune the next chapter.

In both the movie and the mythology, Hades has always been the one to think up of terrible and painful punishments for those that either have led an evil life, or those that have wronged/deceived him. In the books, he simply calmly gave out punishments without so much as a glare, while his brothers would throw their powers around. (Ex.) Zeus would throw his lightning bolts at any mortal who disrespects him and Poseidon would cause sea storms or major earthquakes with his trident. If you want cruel and unusual punishments, go to Hades.

To add another note, the story may have some OC's but many of the characters may also come from the book of Greek Mythology. In fact, you should probably know who I've been talking about that had died. He was indeed the only god to have died, even though he isn't mentioned much in Greek mythology. Those who are mythology fanatics might be able to guess who he is. Can you guess who he is by the time I give the next chapter?


	5. Chapter 4: Aftermath

After a long Hiatus, (I hate hiatuses.) I have returned. Now let's see if we can get this story up and running.

For those of you who are Greek mythology experts, this was done

And congratulations to those that guessed right on who Hades' son is; you know who you are.

Chapter 5: Aftermath

A stag poked his head fearfully through the bushes it was hiding in, looking around the area that was recently devastated. It peered to see if there was any sign of danger. Seeing that everything was calm, the deer cautiously walks to the meadow and begins to graze.

He never saw the fireball coming.

Hades stumped on the remains of the poor helpless animal that had only been minding his own business and headed straight to his chariot, stepping on the flowers in the process of getting there. He couldn't believe this! He had thought that his family had a little bit of kindness in them or at least some sympathy. After all, he was family too; one would think that meant something to them.

He shook his head at the thought. Who in His Home was he kidding; his family had always been selfish. True, he was no better, but he had at least always been loyal to his family while everyone else had tried to betray Zeus at some point.

Walking, he gave Olympus one last look. Despite his vow to never return, Olympus had been his home and he had always cherished every moment he ever had when he was visiting.

Now he could never go back. Ever.

"Hades, wait! Please stop!"

Hades paused and turned around, incredulous to see Zeus of all people trying to keep up with him. What did he want? Couldn't ol' Thunder-butt see that he did not want to speak to him? Even if he didn't know what had truly happened all these years ago, the outcome was the same and his son, **His son, not Zeus'**, was gone. To this day, it still baffled many others that a god could be killed. Sure, he knew it was possible, but to actually hear about it and have be someone you know?

It was still all Zeus' fault, even if he hadn't known it until now.

"What do you want now! Haven't you and YOUR family systematically ruined my life already?" Hades shouted as he glared at his older brother.

Zeus panted, wondering when Hades could move so fast. He chalked it off on the lack of exercise on his part. He normally didn't exert too much energy because, when you're a god and all-powerful, you don't need to. A smite here and a miracle there and boom! People worship you and work for you. Reaching his younger brother, Zeus looked at his brother's face and flinched at the still at the expression of raw betrayal, rage and hatred.

"Hades, what is truly going on? Obviously, this is what started this whole misunderstanding. Please tell me so that I can help you." Zeus pleaded. No more petty infighting, no more power struggles and no more hidden agendas and conspiracies. This was not about politics or paranoia.

This was his brother, his baby brother.

Hades looked at Zeus like he had grown a second head. "Heeeeelp me? I'm sorry; did I get air in my ears while I was up in Olympus? Cause I could have sworn you said that you wanted to help me? You, of all gods, want to help me?!!" Hades exclaimed, disbelievingly. A minute ago, Zeus had been considering throwing him in Tarturus!

Zeus sighed sadly and tiredly. "I know you're upset me…." Hades once again exploded, frying everything flammable around him.

"UPSET!! WHO'S UPSET?!! I'M NOT UPSET !!I'M HAPPY, I'M ECSTATIC!! YA CAN'T GET ANY HAPPIER THAN THIS, PEOPLE!! NO SIR!! LOOK AT ME DO MY HAPPY DANCE!!" Hades shouted as he mockingly did a dance. Hades was acting in his most immature moments and at a time like this. But Zeus had seen him use this move way too many times to not see it as a shield. Hades was a lot more hurt then he originally thought.

"Hades, please tell me what really happened to your son? I know I messed up big time, but if you just tell me your side of the story……" He backed off when the fire around Hades intensified.

"MY SIDE!!! MY SIDE OF THE STORY?!! SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU CARED ENOUGH TO HEAR ME OUT?!!!" Hades spat out as he kept his hands to his sides, to keep from lashing out. He was barely seen from behind the fire surrounding his body and he was practically spitting fire from his mouth.

Zeus was stunned by that declaration. Did Hades truly believe that he did not care for him? Sure they had their differences, but Hades was his baby brother. He was always there for him and had always watched his back. They had fought together in the Titan wars and it was Zeus' strength and power and Hades' strategic mind that had help them win. They had always trusted one another and depended on each other when things became too much for them.

"I….. I do care…." Zeus was in turmoil, it was bad enough his brother hated him, but Hades actually believes that no one loved him either. But then, the attitudes and behaviors of the other gods had opened his eyes. But surely the love of his brothers would be enough.

"No you don't," Hades sadly sighed, his fire going out like a match on a windy day. "You used to care, but after you got married and became King of the Gods, you changed. You and Poseidon became different from the brothers I knew and grew up with. Okay, I'll admit I have changed, too. But even then, with the exception of mortals, I would never do anything to hurt you and Poseidon. Sure, we got into our fights, we often drove ourselves crazy, and often one of us would say or do something that would be regretful for us later. But there was always a line between us brothers that we never cross. You crossed it, Zeus. You crossed it when you and Persephone………….." he lowered his head and didn't continue. Zeus wanted to comfort his brother, tell him that he did still love him.

But he had the feeling that he was too late.

Hades looked away, trying not to let his brother see his tears. "How could you do this to me?" Hades' voice sounded cracked. Zeus looked up in shock. Was Hades crying? "I mean, sure kidnapping her and bringing her to the Underworld was not the most romantic of ideas, nor was tricking her to eat the Pomona apple seeds, but I loved her and you knew it. She was all I had and she was my light just like………..just like my…………….. You hid this from me and never told me what had happened. How could you, Zeus?!!"

Zeus looked up and tried to hide his despair. "I'm sorry Hades. I'm so sorry for everything."

Hades glared darkly as he subtly used his heat of his body to remove the tears from his eyes. "Apology not accepted. You are twenty years too late." With that said; Hades climbed in his chariot and rode off for what he hoped to be the last time.

*****

Down in the Underworld, the three fates were weaving the newest tapestry of the future. This latest future, though it didn't affect them personally, was still very troubling.

"It begins as predicted, my sisters." Clothos began as she pulled a thread from the tapestry.

"Yes, the mortals are starting to rebel against the gods. Soon, the serpent of them will release the devourer of Gods. The world will belong to the titans once again." Lachesis observed as she watched the tapestry unfold into a world where the mortals were killed and disasters caused by Titans from every corner can be seen.

"Their only hope in stopping it would be the brothers three. Hopefully, they will stop this new threat and save the cosmos." Atropos finished as she watched Hades return to his realm trough the Eye.

The Fates eyed one another as they prepared to seek out Hades and his brothers to inform them of what was going on. They didn't need to see the future to know how that outcome would be like.

*****

Pain and Panic feverishly cleaned the throne room before Hades returned and decided they would be used for target practice. If they were lucky, he would only decide to throw fireballs at them. That is, if they were lucky, though. Being in the well of souls didn't exactly improve Hades' temper.

If Hades was in a particularly black mood, he may just decide to maim them first.

They heard the sound of a chariot racing just outside the entrance. Pain and Panic knew who that was; no one else would have the gall to park near the palace.

"He's coming, he's coming, HE'S COMING!!! What do we do!" Panic panicked as he immediately prayed to any God or Goddess that was merciful enough to take pity on his poor soul. He just hoped they would save him from a very painful end. Pain, who suddenly wondered why his mother named him that, decided to wait for the inevitable explosion.

Hades walked past them without even so much as a murderous glance.

Blinking and frighteningly confused, both imps watched as their dark lord headed down a dark hallway like a ghost. Pain, feeling just a little bit brave, decided to follow Hades. Panic was still blinking in his spot and was wondering why Hades hadn't killed or even swatted them out of the way. Even in his lightest of moods, he would always hit them. Why would he ignore them this time?

His question was quickly answered when a stark-white Pain showed up with an expression that screamed terror.

"This is bad!!! No! This is worse than bad! This is the opposite of fantastic! Panic, they did something to Hades! I don't know what it is but it spells trouble."

Panic's eyes widened. "What happened? What did he say?"

"Nothing; He didn't say anything to me. I tried to get his attention, but he totally ignored me." Pain shuddered in fear. Why oh why didn't he take in life insurance?

Panic slumps his shoulders. "Then how do you know its bad?....." Panic reasoned. He wanted to believe that he was safe and Hades wouldn't hurt them for whatever went wrong in the hearing.

Pain gulped. "Because he went to his room."

Panic blinked. "So he decided to go to his room. At least, he decided not to kill us."

"NO! NO! NO! Not his own room! HIS room! You know; the one that no one, under the threat of pain and fiery death is allowed to go into, THAT ROOM!" Pain squeaked.

Panic's eyes had widened beyond dinner plates and thinking had left the building. That Room! Hades went into that room! But Hades hadn't gone to that room in years. When he did, it was only on the occasion………….

"What happened now?" Panic whimpered. What did the deities do to have Hades go on a new emo-rampage?

Suddenly, eternity was a painful existence.

*****

The room was completely different from any other room in the Underworld on the simple fact that it was completely white. Not a speck of dirt could be found anywhere and the lighting around existed in the dark Underworld only illuminated the room's brilliance. In addition, the oval-shaped room had all sorts of toys, board games and flower vases filled with everlasting flowers decorated it. Hades was sitting on the white pristine bed with his face buried on a small stuff skeleton. He could feel his dead heart actually breaking; the last time that happened was when 'He' had died.

'_It's not fair! Why do my brothers, Twiddle-Dum and Twiddle Dummer, get to be happy? Why can't I ever be happy? Why can't the fates cut me some slack?'_

Lifting his face up, he looked to the side of the painting and spotted a tapestry that was made a long time ago as a gift from Athena to his son. In that picture stood three deities in a beautiful background of a sunset. On it was Hades giving one of his rare smiles that was free of any maliciousness and cruelty. Leaning on his arm was Persephone, looking as Queenly as she was royalty in her Underworld garbs. Unlike the present, Persephone in the photo had a smile that was more brilliant then the sun and her forest-green eyes sparkled with joy and life. At the very center of the picture, just between the happy couple was a small boy in black robes found in the underworld. The seven-year old looking boy was the was the spitting image of his mother, from his pure mother of pearl white skin and sparkling green eyes to his bright smile and sunny disposition.

Looking at the picture brought back memories for Hades, where he had been more open and less dark, where the Underworld had been a less lonely place for him, where he and Persephone were closer together.

Where a child's laughter was no stranger to him.

Hades suddenly watched as the picture started to get blurry and realized that his eyes were filling up with tears again. While blinking them away, Hades whispered to the tapestry as if begging for its forgiveness.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you. I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible god and father that I couldn't protect you. I love you………….. Zagreas."

Hades found himself doing something he hadn't since his only son had died: he started to cry.

TBC

Basically sad, I'm going to have to work on some flashbacks between them so you know how close they were and how they became distant.

On the next chapter, Poseidon wonders what could have helped his siblings had he gotten more involved, Zeus suffers the loss of his baby brother and Hades is haunted by his own actions against Hercules. YAY!! We are introduced to the bad guys of the story! And can anyone guess who Hera is pregnant with?

Yeah, I know, I'm making you solve too much puzzles. But I can't help it. I'm a mystery lover.


	6. Chapter 5: Zeus' guilt, Poseidon's probl

It has been while since I've updated. Kittyhawk09 reminded me and I have more to come, believe it or not. After I finish Ailurophobia, Brothers will also be top priority to complete.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Disney's Hercules. If I did, Megara would be my new mentor and I would be singing it up with the muses.**

Chapter six: Zeus guilt, Poseidon's problem and Hades' Nightmare

Appearing down to earth, Hera was in shock to find Zeus still on earth, on his knees and staring at the same exact spot Hades had been. Running while steadying her large belly, Hera called out to her king.

"Zeus, are you all right?"

Zeus' head shot up as he turned to look at Hera. He rushed forward and grabbed his pregnant wife in his hands, careful not to hurt her too badly.

"Hera, what was Hades talking about? I know you and Persephone had something to do with what's wrong this! What's wrong with Squirt?"

Hera gasped. Zeus hadn't called Hades his 'Squirt' in the longest time.

A stern look crossed the king of the gods as he recalled most of his conversation with Hades. "Hera, what happened to Zagreas? What happened to Hades' son?" Zeus asked, trying to snap his wife out of his nostalgia.

Hera slowly looked at her husband as she looked as sad as that fateful day eighteen years ago. "Zagreas was not Hades' son."

Zeus froze as he felt his inside turn into ice. "W-w-what?"

Hera burst into tears as she buried her face on Zeus' chest. "Zagreas was not Hades' son." She repeated with more emotion. "And he did not die the way you think. I helped."

"You helped what?" Zeus whispered with dread.

"**I HELPED KILL A GOD!"** She wailed.

OoooOoooO

Deep in the oceans, Poseidon sat on his throne of his palace as he wondered how everything could have gone so wrong. He was supposed to be the more observant one of his brothers, how could he not have noticed the growing friction between them. At first, he thought it was the responsibility of running their kingdoms as well as their children. But now...

In retrospect, one can plainly see that the three brothers lost the connection that they used to have when they had faced Kronus together. And the catalyst had been Zagreas' death.

Zeus had handled it in the way he handled all problems that was too complicated for him to solve with a thunderbolt: he ignored it. He had pretended it didn't exist so he didn't have to experience the pain and then to grieve. Poseidon himself tried to comfort his younger brother, but he had no idea on how to do so as he did not know how Hades felt. No immortal child had ever died in the Grecian Pantheon. By the Seven Seas, he wouldn't know what to do if any of his kids had died.. Death was simply not something any of the gods knew or experienced with, well ... except for Hades.

Speaking of Hades...

All thoughts of his brother went back to that fateful day. After Zagreas' death, Hades had locked himself in his kingdom and refused to come out for anything, not even for Olympus. His marriage had gone up in smoke, literally and figuratively. He didn't know what had happened, but the last fight with his wife had gotten Hades so angry that he blew a chunk of Gaea off the map. A tear stained Persephone had then returned to Olympus and uttered two words:

"He knows."

Since then, everyone (Except for Zeus and himself) had been afraid of Hades. Now that he knew about the circumstances of Zagreas' death, Hades was on a warpath. But it was not the explosive punishment that they had expected. It had been a cold calculating one, the kind that Hades was famous for when punishing evildoers in his realm. He acted his regular funny witty yet business-like self (to the relief of his oblivious older brother) but if everyone would look at his eyes, they held a frostbitten glint that said, 'You are all living on borrowed time.'

Luckily, the whole 'titan incident' was over and Hades had been thwarted, but that still didn't solve anything. Hades was still angry and will simply think of something else to get back at them. Until something was said or done, this would never end.

By the Gods, he would give anything to have his lovable Squirt back.

OoooOoooO

_Eighteen years ago on Olympus at nightfall, in his nightgown and nightcap that covered his flames, Hades growled as he walked up to the gates of Olympus. Did his brother not realize how ungodly the hour was for him to be up? _

_It's called ungodly for a reason!_

"_Clouds for brains, what in Tarturus did you call me for? I have work to do! Full time gig here, Hellllloooooo! Hades reminded Zeus, who was pacing back and forth in his throne room after having sent every god and goddess in Olympus on a search for his son._

_Zeus whirled around. Before Hades could stop him, Zeus grabbed Hades in a tight hug and sobbed uncontrollably._

"_Hades! It's horrible! Hercules has been kidnapped! Someone stole him!" He blubbered._

"_Zeus..."_

_"Someone snatched him from his bed! I don't know where he is or if he's safe or not!"_

"_Zeus..."_

"_Could it have been the gorgons? Harpies? Chimeras? He's too young and helpless..."_

"_**ZEUUUUUUSSS!"**_

"_What?" he finally lifted his head up and managed to stop blubbering. Hades was an interesting shade of purple._

"_Not only is oxygen a factor for my survival but I really want to get the feelings back in my ribs, capish?"_

"_Oh, right." He released Hades, who started to lose the purple coloring on his face as he took deep breaths, although each breath was a pain for his poor ribs._

"_Now, in slower words, who is missing?"_

"_Hercules! And he's not missing; he's been stolen from me!"_

_Hades tried to hide a grin of triumph. So those morons can do something right, for a change. Switching from annoyed little brother to concerned and sympathetic brother, Hades spoke to his philandering brother._

"_That's terrible! Oh Zeus, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have been so rude in your time of need." The dark god wondered if maybe he overdid it. But Zeus was too upset to notice._

"_Just don't let Hera see me like this. I have to put a brave face on for her. I don't want her to see me fall apart like this. She needs me to be strong for her." He sobbed, not afraid to how his feelings to Hades._

"_Oh of course, Big Z! I wouldn't do that to her. She really shouldn't see the real you." His back was turned so Zeus did not notice his sneer, despite the light humour in his tone. Again, Zeus did not see._

"_What am I going to do? What if the titans took him? They might corrupt him, or worse... he might be killed. Just like Zagreas." Zeus gasped when he realized what he had said. He looked at Hades and became aware of how pale the god of the dead went._

"_Hades, I shouldn't have brought that up. Forgive me." Zeus knew what a touchy subject Zagreas was to Hades._

_Hades' eyes were blank for a few seconds before he smiled. "What? That? You know, I almost forgot about it; completely slipped mind." Hades answered distractedly._

"_Oh... I didn't think that could ever happen. After all, he's your only son, and he was actually the first god killed and in such a horrifying and painful..."_

"_**I GET THE IDEA!"**__ Hades raged as unpleasant memories surfaced. He was unseen by the smoke and fire around him._

_Zeus wisely shut up._

_OoooOoooO_

_Back in the Underworld, Hades came back down a bit quieter then he thought. He should have been ecstatic that his plan worked. Instead, he was now having second thoughts of what he did._

_Pain and Panic came back with forced smiles on their faces. They really hoped their acting skills paid off._

"_We took care of it, boss."Panic grinned in a fake manner._

"_Yep. Dead as a door nail. That little sunspot is a member of the Styx Club." Pain nodded vigorously._

"_He's in there in the river right now. No need to check it out." Panic quickly added._

_Hades was barely aware of the words. He was too busy wondering about his conversation with Zeus. After seeing the state he was in, he had started to get doubts. Was he in the right in doing this to Zeus and Hercules? Zeus hurt him, yeah. But to put him through the same pain he went through; and what about Hercules? What did he do to deserve this? He may have been destined to take him out from his plan, but to kill him when he`s only a baby? There could have been hundreds of ways to do this without having to resort to that. And he was still in his planning stages anyway. There was nothing permanent in his long-term plans._

_Hades shuddered. One of the reasons he had Pain and Panic do it instead of himself was because he couldn't kill him. He reminded him of Zagreas that he might as well be killing Zagreas. If he did, he would never look himself in the mirror again._

_Pain exchanged glances to his brother before looking up. "Uuuh, Boss..." Hades was unusually silent. Did things not go his way? "Boss, are you okay?"_

_Hades broke out of his musings. "Huh, yeah. Good jobs, boys. Knew I could count on you. Well, your lives depended on this, so of course you succeeded." Hades congratulated._

_Satisfied, Pain and Panic left a brooding Hades behind, glad that he would not flay them alive after succeeding in a mission._

_Unfortunately, they were flayed anyway. Their screams cheered him up a little._

OoooOoooO

Hades woke up in his son`s room, holding a small skeleton stuff toy to his chest. Looking around to see he was still in his son's room, he realized it was all a bad dream.

'_No way! That was a memory. I did order Pain and Panic to have the kid's ichor destroyed and replaced with mortal blood.'_ he thought as he ran his hand through his flames. As much as he hated both Zeus and Hercules at the moment, Hades felt a glimmer of guilt in his heart for trying to off his nephew. The kid didn't even know what he was up to or that he was trying to destroying him at the time. Heck, the day before the battle; that had been the first time he spoke to Hercules face-to-face. He was nothing like Zeus. In fact, his

He thought about his strong but simple-minded nephew and thought about how Zagreas might have looked like had he lived long enough. Give the kid chocolate brown hair, pearl-white skin and green eyes and he'd be his twin.

Except Zagreas was a genius. Jerkules was a muscle-bound little hero with monstrous strength. Zagreas was more interested with his plants and alchemy. His son never even picked up a weapon. Zagreas was more interested in the arts. Kid loved music, arts and inventing. Heck, Zagreas had even invented some really useful things for him.

Like the formula that was used to make Hercules mortal.

Remembering that, Hades felt another flinch of guilt at that; But he was justified in what he did. He had every reason to act as he did. There's no reason to feel guilty. An eye for an eye, Right.

Right?

OoooOoooO

Back in Olympus, despite the peace and serenity it displayed, all was not well. After he managed to calm Hera down, Zeus had her transported back to their home where they may continue the discussion unmolested. In the royal champers, Zeus was in a deep discussion with his wife.

"What do you mean you killed a god? How? Why?" Zeus knew his wife was capable for a great deal of many things, but to kill one of their own? Among the gods, such an act was unforgivable, especially when the god was the heir to one of the leaders of the Pantheon.

For Hera to openly admit to killing not just a godling child, but the prince of the Underworld, was too much for his mind to take in.

Hera sobbed louder then she had intended. She was normally more controlled then this, but the baby was making her very emotional.

"I led the Titans to the land with the promise of a reward if they showed kill him. It never sunk in to me that he was not at fault for his mother and should not be punished for what has been done. It never even occurred to me on what it would do the Hades. I had even hoped that the titans would kill both mother and child. It wasn't until I actually saw how it hurt both you and Hades that I realized what I had done." She sobbed as Zeus took it in. The death of Zagreas had been heartbreaking, especially when he had to comfort Hades after that. He normally didn't weep for his mortal children as he knew they would die anyway as all mortals should, but he had matured somewhat when Hercules had been born.

"You! You sent those Titans! You killed Zagreas! Hades' son! You also attempted to take the life of Persephone" Zeus was now furious. Hera may be his wife, but he was the king of the Gods and one of the rulers of the third of the universe. What his wife did was unforgivable. Not only had she killed a god, a grave crime and one that may result in her death, but she knowingly attempted the life of the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone. Not only that, Persephone was the daughter of Demeter. If anything had happened to her, the gods would have to endure her grief by a world of forever winter.

"Why? Why did you have him killed? What could have you possibly gained in killing my nephew? What has that little boy ever done to you?"

Hera looked at her husband through her tear-filled eyes incredulously. There was no way he could forget so easily?

"Zeus, Zagreas is your son." She watched as her husband went pale.

"That cannot be! He is Hades'! Hades and Persephone..." his queen interrupted him.

"Cannot have children. Hades cannot have any children as he is, well, considered dead due to his powers." She sadly stated. "I suspected as much and had Apollo check for me, as the God of truth. He confirmed to me that Zagreas was yours." She took a shuddering breath as she rubbed her tummy. All that stress was not good for the baby.

She continued. "He looked so much like Persephone that it was difficult to tell at first. While he was intelligent and charismatic, he had her kind nature as well. But the more I looked at him, the more I saw a hint of you."

She looked at him with her sad doe- like blue eyes that reminded him so much of his little Hercules. "When I learned the truth, I snapped. I became even angrier when I learned that he would be one of the heirs of the cosmos, even if it was the underworld."

Before Hercules was born, none of her children with Zeus qualified as Heirs to cosmos. Ares was not well-liked and would have caused nothing but conflict. Hephaestus had no interest in ruling and preferred tinkering with his creations or creating works of art.

And the less said about their daughter Eris, the better.

But when Hercules was born, for the first time ever, she was a proud and loving mother. It was the first time she ever felt any love for any child of hers. Hercules had her beauty and eyes and her husband's chin and dashing nature. He was also powerful and had the makings of a hero. When Zeus saw him, he fell in love as well and chose him to one day take his throne. Hera knew that her son would achieve all this until that fateful day he had been stolen from them.

It had been the most heart-retching thing of her life since she now knew what it was like to lose a child. It made her see what Persephone had gone through when she lost hers. That day had changed her and made her see herself what she was. She did not like what she had been and sought to change that.

She supposed, in a way, Hercules' kidnapping had been Fates' way of making her pay for her crimes.

Zeus felt lost all of a sudden. No wonder Hades hated them, it was any wonder he hated Zeus more than anything. The entire pantheon knew about Zagreas being murdered and the son of Zeus and neither he nor...

"Wait, does Hades know that Zagreas was mine?" He asked, almost hoping that were not the case. It was cruel enough that Hades's son was taken from him, but for him to know that he was never his son and that Persephone had cheated on him was too cruel.

But Hera crushed that hope. Hera sobbed as she looked at him in misery. "Persephone was the one that told him in the heat of her anger. It was after that revelation that I believe that he planned to overthrow you."

TBC

Zeus is not a happy king. His relationship with Hades is falling apart and for once, it's not Hades' fault.

Poseidon is next for the confrontation, and it won't be pleasant for him at all. Hades has a lot of things to say to his brother and how he feels about this secret.

And we get a glimpse of the new villain.


End file.
